Prevalence of overweight and obesity among Iranian population: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND

Obesity is a major risk factor for chronic diseases. Politicians and practitioners should be aware of the dramatic increase in obesity and its subsequent complications to prevent associated health risks. This systematic review aimed to provide better insight into the prevalence of overweight and obesity in the Iranian population.

METHOD

An evaluation was conducted on all published observational studies from both national (SID, Irandoc, Iranmedex) and international (Web of Knowledge, PubMed, Scopus) sources, which reported the prevalence of overweight/obesity among normal population samples, between January 2012 and December 2021.

RESULT

A total of 152 eligible studies were included in this meta-analysis. Of the 152 selected studies, 74 reported the prevalence of overweight/obesity in patients aged ≤ 18 years, and 61 studies in adults. In the rest of the articles (17 studies), the results were reported for a combination of these age groups. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Iran was estimated at 20.1 (95% CI 17.92-22.30) and 13.44 (95% CI 11.76-15.22), respectively. This percentage (95% CI) was 11.71 (10.98-12.46) for overweight and 8.08 (7.02-9.22) for obesity in those aged ≤ 18 years, and 35.26 (32.61-37.99) for overweight and 21.38 (19.61-23.20) for obesity in those aged > 18 years. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity in the entire population was 35.09% (95% CI 31.31-38.98).

CONCLUSION

As obesity is on the rise in Iran, we should seek both weight loss strategies and ways to control comorbidities associated with high BMI.